Photo: Sean Fennessy
Participate
About Melbourne Design Week
Melbourne Design Week (MDW) returns in its eighth year to celebrate design across Melbourne, Australia’s design capital from 23 May – 2 June 2024. The program is driven by ideas and provides a platform for designers, educators, businesses and the community to come together to share ideas, show and sell new work, and consider how design can be used as a force for good in an increasingly complex and precarious world.
Want to be a part of Melbourne Design Week 2024?
Melbourne Design Week is curated into two streams. There is a stream of local and international exhibitions and presentations organised by the National Gallery of Victoria. There is also the satellite program of events and exhibitions organised by the design community. The satellite program makes up approximately 90 percent of the program with events held at ateliers, studios, retail spaces, universities, galleries, gardens and public spaces throughout Melbourne and regional Victoria. Participation in the satellite program is via an expression of interest, and there is no entry fee to participate. Satellite participants fund and deliver their events.
The MDW satellite program application requires a proposal to responds to the provocation Design the World you Want. Each year, three themes sit under this call-to-action to address the ever-changing opportunities and challenges that designers face. In 2024, these pillars are ethics, energy, and ecology. For more information on the 2024 themes head to the Themes page.
Individuals and organisations can apply to participate in the Melbourne Design Week 2024 satellite program by submitting an expression of interest. Expressions of interests are now open and close on 23 November 2023 at 5pm.
Apply for MDWKey Dates
Expressions of interest open: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Expressions of interest close: Thursday, 23 November 2023
Expressions of interest applicants notified of outcome: Thursday, 7 December 2023
Final satellite event assets required: Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Program announcement: Mid-April
Melbourne Design Week: 23 May – 2 June 2024
Why Participate
If you have a story to tell, new work to unveil, an idea to discuss, an issue to debate – Melbourne Design Week is made for you. Melbourne Design Week is Australia’s leading international public design event, delivered each year by the teams at Creative Victoria and NGV working in close collaboration with a broad network of institutions, media organisations, and industry partners. Our objective is to provide a compelling annual platform, backed by the expertise and reach of the NGV, for participants to engage a broad audience with their work and ideas.
- Melbourne Design Week is Australia’s annual opportunity to connect with the design community, be inspired, network and do business.
- Participants can reach a broad public audience in Melbourne, regional Victoria and online.
- It is free to present an event during Melbourne Design Week. No registration fees apply.
- The MDW program receives significant marketing, media and curatorial support from the NGV.
- Marketing and media activities reach an extensive audience through a comprehensive digital and social media campaign, e-news, print coverage and targeted media outputs in the lead up to, and during MDW. Now entering its eighth year, Melbourne Design Week 2024 builds on the success of previous years, engaging with diverse industry sectors and an active design community to offer an ever-expanding program of exhibitions, launches, talks, tours, workshops and more.
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Melbourne Design Week can be located here. For any further enquiries, please contact [email protected]
About the Melbourne Art Book Fair
Expressions of interest for the tenth edition of the Melbourne Art Book Fair (MABF) taking place in May 2024 are now open. Since its inception in 2015, the MABF has brought together publishers, artists and designers to showcase some of the world’s best publications in bookshops, galleries, libraries, community centres and public gardens across Melbourne and Victoria.
The fair celebrates Melbourne’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature, hosting local and international publishers, artists, designers, and writers, and serves as an exchange of ideas and collaboration between industry professionals and printed matter enthusiasts alike.
The fair is held alongside Melbourne Design Week from Thursday 23 May until Sunday 2 June 2024. The first weekend features the popular stallholder fair held in NGV’s Great Hall, which gives visitors the opportunity to explore and buy unique printed matter from the best local and international publishers and designers.
Throughout the festival, satellite events will take place in bookshops, galleries, libraries, community centres, public gardens and design studios around metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Participate in the Melbourne Art Book Fair
Individuals and organisations can apply to participate in the Melbourne Art Book Fair 2024 stallholder fair and/or satellite program by submitting an expression of interest. Expressions of interests are now open and close on 23 November 2023 at 5pm.
Apply for MABFThe MABF stallholder fair will take place from Friday, 24 May to Sunday, 26 May in the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria. The satellite program is hosted across the state of Victoria throughout Melbourne Design Week, 23 May – 2 June 2024.
Key Dates
Expressions of interest open: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Expressions of interest close: Thursday, 23 November 2023
Applicants notified of outcome: Thursday, 7 December 2023
Final event + stallholder assets required: Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Program announcement: Mid-April
MABF stallholder fair: 24 – 26 May 2024
MABF satellite program: 23 May – 2 June 2024